Now What?® Coaching

Tag: life story

  • Now What Q & A: No Career Passion… Now What?

    Today’s question comes from a community member who e-mailed an inquiry for a recent Community Call. It’s answered by Laura Berman Fortgang.

    question mark now what 2

    Question: My background is in Psychology, but I’ve never used my degree.  I have done work in other fields that I don’t enjoy, and I want out.  I want to find work that I enjoy, but I don’t think Psychology is it.  I don’t have any particular passion to guide me. What do I do?

    Answer:

    This is a great question! Where do you go when you have a background in something, (whether you’ve used it or not), and no particular passion?  At Now What?® next steps for career discovery do not come from a resume. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or what your degree is in.  The answer lies in your Life Story.  By completing and exploring a Life Story, you may find clues about the essence of who you are: what was it that attracted you to Psychology to begin with? Is there a passion to reconnect with that could be added to a new course of study or to your current experience to create a new possibility?

    If you’re really stuck or stymied, start by looking at what you hate about your current situation, as we do in chapter 1 of Now What?: 90 Days to New Life Direction.  You know very well what you don’t want based on what you don’t like about your current situation.  On the other side of what you don’t want is what you DO want.  For example, maybe you don’t like your hours, your commute, or the way your boss behaves. Knowing this will provide you very good clues about what you want instead.  This is where we would ask you to start.

  • Now What? Q &A – The Golden Thread in your Life Story

    Today’s question came from a caller from Philadelphia during a recent Community Call and is answered by: Laura Berman Fortgang.  

    Question:

    I’ve been working in the HR field since graduating college and have been at my current company for eleven years.  Recently a boss whom I considered a toxic influence has moved on and things are a better, more status quo.  I’m trying to figure out a good transition job to see if I can still enjoy HR before deciding if I want to step out of the field entirely.  I’m working with the Now What book but I’m struggling with the Life Story exercise.  I’m stuck in the analysis of it and can’t find what you call the Golden Thread.                                                                                       

    Answer:

    Your life story is what formed you and there are themes there.  You’re probably working way too hard at analyzing the story and it would be helpful to have someone else look at it.  For instance:

    • What were the things you excelled at in grade school and high school?  
    • What did you get accolades for in your younger years?
    • What were your dreams when you were younger?

    In answering Laura’s questions, these are some of the things that were mentioned:  traveling, going to new places and having new experiences, discussing things, and asking questions.

    Laura: All the things you’ve mentioned have the theme of discovery in them.  You like exploring and digging for answers like an archaeologist.  This is a “golden thread” for you and one of the overriding themes in your story.  Traveling might be a good way to get back in touch with that part of you and take some time to remember that feeling you are looking for in work – that discovery sense.  Even if it’s not far away travel, it will be good for you.  So this is one of the clues your life story is showing you.  As you consider your options, look at them with the frame of:  Where can I tap into this discovery mode?

    Our caller was instantly lit up and encouraged.  She had never noticed the theme in all the things she liked to do.  She saw how that was missing in her work and why she’d grown restless.

  • Video Viernes-Paul Potts Sings Nessun Dorma

    It’s been three years since Paul Potts won the Britain’s Got Talent competition.  Since then his audition clip has been viewed millions of times.  Watching this moment still inspires and reminds us that a person’s life story can play out in amazing ways.  Paul’s story includes: dreams of singing as a child, pursuing music as an escape from being bullied in school, experiencing various obstacles as an adult, and then a coin toss decision to show up for an audition.  Now doing what he feels he was “born to do” Paul says, “In life you sometimes take a turn you weren’t expecting, you don’t know where it leads but you have to take that path.”  Read Paul’s bio here.  

    Paul Potts Sings Nessun Dorma

  • Career Transition: A Chance to Evolve Your Life Story

    Some helpful thoughts here that may broaden your perspective on career change.  In the Now What? career transition coaching process, examining your life story is often a pinnacle moment because it helps you connect the dots in a new way.  Patterns and possibilities emerge that can only be detected in the context of your whole story.  Once understood, the next chapter often writes itself.

    “Career Transitions & Finding a New Work Identity.”

    Special thanks to Britta Stromeyer Esmail, the author of today’s article.